MH-282 Holobody - RiverhoodRiverhood is the first release from Holobody, the sibling duo of Felix Green and Sea Oleena, two talented artists in their own right who’ve together crafted a masterpiece from elements of gospel, hip-hop, and electronically-propelled folk. Album opener “Unfold” is a sentimental soliloquy, and its seamless juxtaposition first into the playfully rapped “Hurricane Season” and then into the instrumental "Stomp Coda" sets the tone for the genre-hopping on the rest of Riverhood. Brother and sister trade vocal duties throughout the album. "Riverbed" is a beautiful hymn of death and rebirth with a chorus washed in reverb. Sounds seem to merge and collapse, until the listener paddles into the void and disappears. Other highlights are the hypnotically spiraling “Prelude” and the psychedelic closer “Acid Rain” with each song taking the album in a new and usually unexpected direction. Perhaps the most striking moment is the duo’s take on the traditional hymn “Down to the River and Pray,” which begins with reverent beauty before taking a sideways turn into percussive celebration and ambient experimentation. All of these pieces are drawn together on Riverhood into a whole that is lush, vibrant, and extraordinarily inviting.

The last time I heard of Saskatchewan was in an old Tex Avery animation. But make no mistake, the debut album of musical wunderkinder Holobody (siblings Charlotte and Luke Loseth that already released solo albums under their monikers Sea Oleena and Felix Green) is far away from being cartoonish even though it’s similarly infectious. “Riverhood“ is a genre-bending gem that flawlessly connects the dots - didn’t know before that there were any either - between impressive beatsmithery, gospel, indie-pop, folk, rap, and playful psych. They could be described as a well-behaved and home-schooled version of the Bumblebeez that lives in an accessible alley next to Bradford Cox’s Atlas Sound project. But that wouldn’t do this extraordinarily inviting record justice really. So, yeah, follow that white rabbit down the hole and find out for yourself. That’s all folks! - Lowdown